Ill 



The bareback rider was common among the plains 

 Indians of forty years ago. Beyond trappings for mere 

 show, the noble red man's pony was as naked as he. The 

 bareback seat ought in theory to be alike in all ages, va- 

 ried slightly only by the conformation of man and beast — 

 the slimmer the horse's barrel, or the longer the man's 

 legs, the straighter the seat. We are wont to ascribe vari- 

 ations from it to the use of saddles. This seat, in addi- 

 tion to giving the balancing trick, is supposed to train a 

 man to grip his horse from breech to knee, and, unless 

 when making unusual exertions which require all the grip 

 a man has at command, to allow his leg from the knee 

 down to hang more or less perpendicularly. It is at all 

 events distinctly the model from which to start. The less 

 the variation from it the better the results. And although 

 many horsemen who wander furthest from this seat achieve 

 singular success in equitation, the model, nevertheless, re- 

 mains the best. This is a maxim in every school in Eu- 

 rope or America. Variations from the bareback seat are 

 the result of peculiar habits or requirements. 



This is only theorizing, you may say. True, but the 

 best practice comes from following out good theory, how- 

 ever often practice alone may produce individual success. 

 A man or a horse, or both combined, may accomplish as- 

 tounding results in the wrong way ; but the same skill, 

 patience, and labor, properly directed, would have accom- 

 plished more. " Practice makes perfect," runs the old 



